Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered to the north by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue in Ozone Park, to the south by Jamaica Bay in Broad Channel, to the east by 102nd–104th Streets in South Ozone Park, and to the west by 75th Street in East New York, Brooklyn. The area consists mostly of low-rise single-family detached houses.

Howard Beach is located in Queens Community District 10 and its ZIP Code is 11414. It is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 106th Precinct. Politically, Howard Beach is represented by the New York City Council's 32nd District.

Howard Beach was established in 1897 by William J. Howard, a Brooklyn glove manufacturer who operated a 150-acre (61 ha) goat farm on meadow land near Aqueduct Racetrack as a source of skin for kid gloves. In 1897, he bought more land and filled it in. In the following year, he built 18 cottages. He opened a hotel near the water, which he ran until it was destroyed by fire in October 1907. Gradually, he bought more land. In 1909, he formed the Howard Estates Development Company. He dredged and filled the land until he was able to accumulate 500 acres (200 ha) by 1914. He laid out several streets, water mains and gas mains, and built 35 houses that were priced in the $2,500–$5,000 range.

The Long Island Rail Road established a station named Ramblersville in 1905 and a Post Office by the same name opened soon thereafter. A casino, beach, and fishing pier were added in 1915 and the name of the neighborhood was changed to Howard Beach on April 6, 1916. Development continued and ownership was expanded to a group of investors who sold lots for about $690 each starting in 1922. Development, however, was limited to the areas east of Cross Bay Boulevard near the LIRR station now known as Bernard Coleman Memorial Square (then Lilly Place). The rest of Howard Beach consisted of empty marsh land except for the area to the south of Coleman Square, centered around Russell and 102nd Streets, which consisted of many small fishing bungalows that dotted alongside Hawtree Creek and Jamaica Bay. This area of Howard Beach retained the name Ramblersville. In 1919, the LIRR established opened the Hamilton Beach station, located about a quarter-mile south of the Howard Beach station at Coleman Square.

After World War II, Queens and Long Island experienced a significant suburban building boom. The marshland west of Cross Bay Boulevard was filled in, paving the way for the construction of numerous Cape Cod and High Ranch-style homes on 50-by-100-foot (15 by 30 m) and 60-by-100-foot (18 by 30 m) lots. This area was developed as Rockwood Park to the north and Spring Park to the south, together comprising what would be known as New Howard Beach, while the area east of the boulevard became known as Old Howard Beach.

In the early 1950s, farmland north of Rockwood Park was transformed with the addition of red-brick, two-story garden-style cooperative apartments, six-story co-op and condo buildings, and private two-family homes. This new neighborhood was named Lindenwood. Development continued through the 1960s and 1970s, with Cross Bay Boulevard emerging as the primary shopping district for the area.

In the 1990s and 2000s, many older homes in the neighborhood were demolished and replaced with McMansions.

In 1986 and 2005, Howard Beach became the site of two widely publicized anti-Black hate crimes.